What do donations cover? What happens if a dog or cat isn’t adopted or rescued? You’ll find all the details below for donors and rescue groups.

Day of the Dogs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible.

FAQs for Donors

What do donations cover? How are funds assigned to an individual animal? What happens if a dog or cat isn’t adopted or rescued? You’ll find all the details here.

What exactly are the donations for?

The donations we collect help cover the costs rescue groups incur once they pull animals from the shelter. These funds pay for critical and necessary veterinary care, such as spaying or neutering, heartworm prevention or treatment, treatment of respiratory or skin infections, broken bones, surgery, etc. They also cover food and boarding.

Why do rescue groups need these donations?

All rescues are run by people like you and me – animal advocates who work hard to save lives and help animals find new homes. Donations are their main funding source and many can't do what they do without them.

Rescue groups often struggle due to lack of funds. Many have a hold on intake of new animals because of the costs of the animals currently in their care. This is where we can help. Pre-funding helps encourage rescues to pull animals: They know they will have the means to care for an animal until they can place it with a new family. We think of it as crowdfunding to save a life.

Are you a nonprofit organization?

Day of the Dogs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are expressly dedicated to reducing the rate of euthanasia of homeless animals in shelters. Our current focus is the Harris County Animal Shelter in Houston, TX.

How do you collect donations

We currently use PayPaland the Facebook donation tool to collect donations.

When using PayPal, select the "friends and family" option to avoid additional transaction fees being taken out of your donation. To ensure that PayPal funds are dedicated to a specific animal, please note the individual animal ID in the notes section of your donation. (If no ID is included, your donation will be made to the Urgent Animal Fund.)

Donations made through Facebook’s donation tool – the link below the video of the animal – are directly linked to individual animals.

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Are donation totals on Facebook up to date?

Day of the Dog administrators update the Facebook thread a minimum of once a day with the latest donation totals. (Please keep in mind that this is a manual process and takes time.) All donations made with an animal ID stay with that animal. If an animal you donated to is rescued, your funds will go directly to the assisting rescue group.

Can any rescue group pull animals from the Harris County Animal Shelter?

How do you ensure an individual animal receives its donated funds?

The shelter assigns a unique animal ID to each animal. Using that number, we maintain documentation to track every animal that receives funds through our Facebook page and other social channels. Donations made toward an individual animal stay with that animal when donations are transferred to the assisting rescue group.

Do you decide what rescue groups receive funds?

No. Rescue groups must be pre-approved by HCAS. Your donations to a specific animal will go to the rescue group that pulls the animal when the rescue group is identified. This is important for us to highlight, as other groups will collect donations and transfer them based on their opinion of a given rescue, even when a rescue group is shelter-approved. We firmly believe this is unethical and wrong.

At Day of the Dogs, we are stewards of your donation. If a rescue is approved to pull an animal from HCAS and the animal leaves the shelter with them, the donations raised for that animal will be sent to the rescue. We have never limited transfer of donations to a rescue based on our opinion. The shelter, and only the shelter, has the right to approve or deny what groups pull animals from them.

How will I know if an animal is rescued?

We receive updates from the shelter staff about the outcomes of animals in their care. When we learn an animal is out of the building with a rescue, we update the status above the video and in the comments section below the video on Facebook. When a rescue pulls an animal from HCAS, we often post a “freedom ride” picture in our Facebook feed. From there, you can follow an animal’s progress on the rescue's website or social media pages.

How does a rescue group receive donated funds?

Once a rescue group notifies us that they’ve pulled an animal from the shelter and provides a freedom ride photo, our administrative staff transfers the donations we’ve collected to that rescue group.

If a rescue group pulls an animal and isn’t aware that donations have been made in that animal’s name, we reach out to HCAS to let them know; HCAS then contacts the rescue. We transfer donations after the rescue contacts us.

How much of my donation will the rescue group receive?

Your entire donation is transferred to the assisting rescue group, minus the transaction fee of the merchant service provider. (For example, PayPal charges 2.9% + .30 on each transaction.)

What is the service fee per donation?

There is no additional service fee per donation at this time; the only fee taken out is the merchant service provider fee.

PayPal charges 2.9% + .30 on each transaction.

Facebook does not currently charge a merchant service fee on each transaction.

Do you take a cut of the donation?

No. Day of the Dogs does not take a percentage of donations.

Is there a minimum amount I have to donate?

Not at all. Every dollar counts to the collective total. Donate what you can afford, even if it’s only a few dollars. Every rescue is incredibly grateful for any support you can give them. ‍If you are new to donating, common donation amounts range from $10 - $75 per person. We also have many donors who offer $100 - $1000, and others who donate on a regular basis. The amount and frequency is up to you.

What happens if an animal is adopted, not rescued?

If an animal has any positive outcome other than "rescued," such as adopted, returned to owner or fostered through the shelter, donated funds for that animal are rolled into the Day of the Dogs “Urgent Animal Fund.”

Urgent Animal Fund donations go to other animals at risk at HCAS, giving priority to the urgent dog cases on the euthanasia list.

Do you offer refunds?

If the animal to which you donated was not rescued and you do not want your funds rolled over into the Urgent Animal Fund, you may contact us to request a refund. Please include the animal ID and the method you used to make your donation.

How are the donations in the urgent animal fund used?

The Urgent Animal Fund is focused on helping rescue animals on the euthanasia list at HCAS. We allocate donations to those animals that are currently at risk.

Every single dollar we receive is applied toward solutions to increase the save rate of animals at the Harris County Animal Shelter, including reducing the length of stay for animals through positive outcomes, increasing adoptions and preventing new intakes.

Am I able to donate directly into the urgent animal fund?

Can I send a check?

Yes. If donating by check, please send it to Day of the Dogs, 11702-B Grant Road, #432, Cypress, TX 77429. Please write the animal ID or "Urgent Animal Fund" in the subject of your check so we know where to allocate your donation.

Am I able to make a recurring donation?

Yes. PayPal allows you to make a recurring donation.

Am I able to receive a tax write-off for my donation?

Yes. Day of the Dogs is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Please email us if you would like a receipt.

Is there a way for me to see the real-time donation totals for each animal?

Currently, only our administrators have access to this information, but we are in the process of building a tool that will do just that! Therefore, we encourage all donors to post their donation in the related thread on Facebook, unless they wish to remain anonymous.

We aim to provide donation totals a minimum of once per day. If you’re curious about donation totals and they haven’t been recently updated, you may email us with the animal’s ID number and we’ll respond with totals as quickly as possible.

Is my information shared with anyone?

No. We do not share your information or sell your information to any other party. We do not have access to your payment information.

Who is "Day of the Dogs"?

The founders of Day of the Dogs and volunteers of the organization have been weeklyshelter volunteers at HCAS since 2015. The HCAS shelter staff supports our organization and the work we do to help save animals in their care.

FAQs for Rescues

If you’re an approved rescue group saving animals from the Harris County Animal Shelter, we exist as an organization in part to assist you. Our mission is to increase the live release rate in high-intake municipal shelters, and rescues like yours are key to achieving that goal.

There are so many outstanding organizations doing great work and saving hundreds of lives. If you’re part of the solution, we want to help you do what you do best: save animals and help them find loving homes.

How does a rescue group collect donations made through Day of the Dogs after we pull an animal from HCAS?

Please email info.dayofthedogs@gmail.com when an animal you pulled has left the building. Please include the animal ID number and the email address you use for your rescue's PayPal account (this is the email you login with not the link you provide to the public to donate). Please also include a "freedom ride" photo of the animal.

We will notate our tracking document and transfer the donations directly to you. If you prefer to have funds transferred by check, include your organization's mailing address and let us know to whom the donation check can be made payable.

We transfer donations once a week. If the animal has an urgent critical medical need, we will transfer those donations within 24 hours. We transfer donations to the rescue group, not to individual fosters.

How does Day of the Dogs assist rescue groups?

We collect donations for individual animals profiled on our Facebook page, Harris County Animal Shelter Pets in Need. If you are an approved HCAS rescue and you pull one of the animals profiled on our page, any donations collected for that individual animal are transferred to your organization. ‍For Houston area rescues, we also plan multi-rescue adoption events throughout the year at high-traffic locations to provide the animals in your foster homes with more exposure. Our goal is to increase your adoption rates to make more room so you can save more lives. In addition, we coordinate animal transports from Houston to northern destinations every month.

How do I become an approved rescue with Harris County Animal Shelter?

You can review the HCAS rescue policies and complete the rescue application on the rescue section of the HCAS website.

How often do you forward on the donations?

We transfer donations once a week. For animals with urgent medical needs, we transfer funds within 24 hours.

Do I have to be a 501(c)(3) to receive donations?

Rescue groups do not have to be a 501(c)(3) to pull animals from the Harris County Animal Shelter. If you are an approved HCAS shelter and you pull an animal for which we’ve collected donations, we will send them to you. Please note that we do not transfer funds to fosters.